The West Michigan Phantoms opened the post-season with a 5-3 victory against the Puck-Ups on Sunday evening. The victory marked the 15th consecutive victory by the Phantoms against the Puck-Ups dating back to January 10, 2010. The Phantoms, who played severely shorthanded with four members scratched from the line-up, were able to use a pair of goals from Trent Kik to lead the yellow and black to the win. Despite an opening goal by the Puck-Ups six minutes in, the Men of Phantom Nation quickly climbed back into contention as John Dykehouse would register his third of the season off a great set-up combination from Gordie Anderson and Chad Manning to draw both teams even. That tie would remain intact until 6:50 into the second period, when the Puck-Ups would manage to fire the puck through Kevin Wootton in the Phantom case to restore their lead a 2-1. Late in the second period, team co-captain Trent Kik would truncate his three game scoring drought and net his sixth of the campaign (unassisted) to bring the Phantoms back into a duel with the Puck-Ups. That Phantom game-tieing goal would occur with just 1:20 remaining in the middle stanza. In the third period the Phantoms would climb into their first lead of the contest, as Jason Schemmel would tally his ninth goal of the season and extend his personal goal scoring streak to a season-high four games, as the GRCC Business Management student would tap in a Keith Moorman feed to give the Phantoms a 3-2 lead. The see-saw battle would continue, as the Puck-Ups would answer back less than seven minutes later to put both teams into their third tie of the night. With time running down, the Phantoms would be presented a rare third period powerplay as the Puck-Ups would commit a tripping infraction deep inside their own zone. With the Phantoms enjoying their first and only extra-man-band of the evening, Gordie Anderson from the Mean Streets of Muskegon would stage the eventual and impending death to the Puck-Up's quest to finally net a win against the Phantoms. The Muskegon native and soon to be father would stage his second of the season to give the Phantoms a 4-3 lead with just 1:41 remaining in regulation. Trent Kik would polish of the contest with his second of the night and seventh of the season by way of an empty net goal with 26 seconds remaining to complete the Phantom's 5-3 victory over the Puck-Ups. On the game, the Phantoms out shot the Puck-Ups 29-23. Both teams were sentenced on a single minor for two minutes apiece. The Phantoms skated without the services of Chris Benedict, Brian Doctor, Tim Vanoverloop, Darren Skuse and Justin Calkins. Nate Tyler filled in as the only sub for the Phantoms on Sunday. The Phantoms will return to post-season play on Sunday, May 8th when the team takes on Coon & Friends and 5:00pm.